The effect of omnichannel supply chain integration on market power: the moderating role of environmental uncertainty

Although firms widely exist in online and offline marketplaces to gain a competitive advantage, they face the challenge of determining the degrees of internal and external integration when expanding the omnichannel retailing strategy to their supply chains. Drawing on the resource orchestration theory, this study aims to investigate the effects of the congruence and incongruence between omnichannel firms' internal integration and external integration on market power, wherein environmental uncertainty is considered a moderator in the above effects. Based on a longitudinal dataset of 451 publicly traded Chinese firms from 2017 to 2021, this study uses polynomial regression and response surface analysis to test the research hypotheses. Results showed that congruence has a nonlinear effect, whereas incongruence has an asymmetrical effect. Moreover, environmental uncertainty was found to amplify the influences of congruence and incongruence. Our findings suggest that omnichannel firms' internal and external integration must be strategically orchestrated to enhance market power, particularly under conditions of environmental uncertainty.